drug discovery

Exciting news! To help address antimicrobial resistance, The Pew has officially launched its Shared Platform for Antibiotic Research and Knowledge (SPARK) - a cloud-based, virtual laboratory that enables scientists to share data and insights, learn from past research, and generate new insights into how molecules enter and stay inside of Gram-negative bacteria.

An antibiotic overlooked since its discovery 40 years ago could help develop new drugs against life-threatening infections caused by some of the world’s most dangerous superbugs.

University of Queensland Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) researchers synthesised the antibiotic, and increased its effectiveness against extensively drug-resistant bacteria, then collaborated with Monash University to evaluate the drug using animal models of infection.

An extra membrane camouflages Gram-negative bacteria from drugs and the immune system.

An old drug supercharged by CO-ADD researchers at The University of Queensland has emerged as a new antibiotic that could destroy some of the world’s most dangerous superbugs. The research was published in the journal Nature Communications.

Researchers from the Community for Open Antimicrobial Drug Discovery (CO-ADD) have been awarded almost $1 million to develop a new antibiotic that could treat life-threatening bacterial infections resistant to all known antibiotics.

CO-ADD tests compounds against five of the top pathogens listed on the WHO priority list for R&D of new antibiotics: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus,as well as the fungi Cryptococcus neoformans and Candida albicans.

“We welcome the published list of priority pathogens to be worked on from the World Health Organization. Our research targets five of the pathogens listed, including the three most critical. This will be a vital tool that will guide antibiotic research and drug discovery for the future,” said CO-ADD Dr Mark Blaskovich.